LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!

The Zeros (1977)

Today I happened on a recent video of the Zero's playing "Pipeline" and it was 1977 all over again. Humor me here, because all of this shit came flooding back. This is gonna be long.

Remember when your city didn't really have a scene? Back in 1977, my brother had gone up to L.A. to visit a friend and returned with a fanzine called Backdoor Man, put out by Phast Phreddie Patterson. It had a little blurb in it about a band from Chula Vista (a suburb of San Diego), called the Zeros. It mentioned that they did a cover of "Pipeline," which piqued my interest, because I was into surf music.

The Dils (ca 1975-76)

Not long after that, along with a bunch of like minded music freaks that I hung out with, I went to the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, to see one of the "Kim Fowley Presents New Wave" nights. They were a couple consecutive nights showcasing bands, that basically allowed any band that said that they were new wave or punk to get up and show what they were made of. (This particular night had the Germs, in their second gig ever.) Up near the stage, I began chatting with a couple of guys that happened to be from the San Diego area, so I asked them if they had ever heard of this band called the Zeros. One of them happened to be Guy Lopez (RIP), the brother of Robert Lopez, one of the Zeros. I asked to be introduced to his brother, and after introductions we both lamented the lack of a scene in San Diego. We swapped contact info and made plans to talk more once back home.

The Hitmakers (1977)

Later that night, I ran into Ron Silva, a guitar playing Beatle freak I knew vaguely in high school. He was with a guy named Jeff Scott. Scott had been in a band called the Dils, and was now starting his own band with Silva, which would be called the Hitmakers. Again, contact info was swapped.

The Zeros (1978)

Once back in San Diego, calls were made, and dots began to get connected. Talk was made about having a show in San Diego. It was like something out of "Our Gang," as in "Hey, let's put on a show!" The Hitmakers included two ex-Dils, Scott and drummer Joseph Marc; and the Zeros had played in L.A. with the current Dils, which had become a three piece with the other two original Dils, Chip & Tony Kinman. So, there was another band that might play.

The Dils, who resided in Carlsbad (just north of San Diego), were contacted and, over the course of the next few months, the first punk show in San Diego was planned. The bill would be the Hitmakers, the Dils and the Zeros. (Fyer collectors: The Dils backed out just before the flyers were printed, and then changed their mind and agreed to play. So there were two versions of the flyers, one without the Dils, and one with their name hand written with a Magic Marker.) It was a great line up, and it was the first show in San Diego proper for all three bands.

Just thinking about all of the bands that members of those three bands would go on to play in is mind boggling. In no particular order, and not counting the three we've been talking about: Catholic Discipline, Rank and File, the Sacred Hearts, the Crawdaddys, the True Believers, the Nashville Ramblers, Blackbird, Flying Color, the Black Diamonds, Cowboy Nation, PCH, and, one I just found out about tonight, Los Trendy. And I know I've left out a lot of other bands, not to mention solo ventures, which still continue; the most recent, an excellent ('76 era Groovies-ish) solo album by the Zeros' Javier Escovedo.

The Dils (ca 1979)

Now, all of these guys would have continued doing music regardless of the San Diego gig, but that's not the point. What caused me to stop for a minute and think about it was that, back then, you wouldn't have imagined that any loosely affiliated group of musicians would continue in music for years, much less decades. Nobody did it back then, except rocks stars and shitty go-nowhere bar bands. Since then, bands have been slowly chinking away at the irrelevant rock star armor. Now, decades later, there is room for mid-tier bands to do it for a living, and the word indie is a permanent part of the music lexicon. That would probably not be the case if punk rock hadn't have happened.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Hitmakers - Grow Up With Me mp3 at the Che Underground
The Hitmakers - The One I Like mp3 at the Che Underground (Note: These are actually just Jeff Scott and Joseph Marc, pre-Ron Silva)
The Dils - I Hate the Rich mp3 at Killed By Death
The Zeros -Don't Push Me Around mp3 at Pop Zeus
The Dils - You're Not Blank mp3 at Killed By Death
The Zeros - Hand Grenade Heart (demo) mp3 at Pop Zeus
The Dils, - Class War mp3 at Killed By Death
The Zeros - Beat Your Heart Out mp3 at Last Days of Man on Earth
The Dils - Mr. Big mp3 at Killed By Death
The Zeros -Wild Weekend mp3 at Last Days of Man on Earth
The Crawdaddys - Oh Baby Doll mp3 at the Che Underground (Ron Silva's later band)
Rank & File - Rank & File mp3 at Lumberjack Thief (Chip & Tony Kinman's later band)
Rank & File - The Conductor Wore Black mp3 at The Rising Storm


The Zeros (2010)

Video:
The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around, Wimp, and short interview (Sun Up, 1977) video at YouTube
The Zeros - Pipeline (live, 2010) video at YouTube
The Dils - Class War (live, 1978) video at YouTube
The Dils - Red Rockers (live, Hurrahs, 1979) video at YouTube
The Crawdaddys - Cadillac (ca 1979) video at YouTube
Visit:
Interview with the Zero's Javier Escovedo (1/4/2011) at Punk Rock '77 Thru Today
The Zeros- Early history by Javier Escovedo at The Mod Pop Punk Archives
The Zeros at Wikipedia
Javier Escovedo at Facebook Recent music streaming
Chip Kinman and PCH at MySpace Recent music streaming
Tony Kinman interview (audio) at Revenge of the 80s Radio
Los Trendy/Tony Kinman at MySpace Recent music streaming
The Dils at Wikipedia